Leaping into the Lake
Saturday’s “new thing” was a late spring leap into the frigid Wallowa Lake. This lake, mind you, sits at 4400 feet elevation outside a town that had snow as recently as last Thursday. It is four miles long, 1-mile wide, and 483 feet deep.
Sunset was grand that evening, after a 65-degree sunny day. Light bled across the prairie, alpenrose hit the high peaks, and the glassy surface of the water looked, at times, like a mirror of the heavens. With assistance from a little tequila, Erica and I stripped down, waded in, dove under, and leapt out.
The only sound was the sound of shrieks. The only sight was two cheek-cracking smiles. And the only thought afterwards was no thought at all. Just here. Now. The breath of the present moment.
